A PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ON THE BIOLOGY OF URBAN AREAS ISSN 1541-7115 Birds in the Urban Environment Volume 3, Number 1 • December 2005 1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn New York 11225 • 718.623.7200 http://www.urbanhabitats.org/ Editors Steven E. Clemants Vice President for Science, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and Codirector, Center for Urban Restoration Ecology Janet Marinelli Director of Publishing, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and Member of the Steering Committee, Center for Urban Restoration Ecology Gerry Moore Director of Science, Brooklyn Botanic Garden Associate Editor Niall Dunne Brooklyn Botanic Garden Copy Editor Joni Blackburn Brooklyn Botanic Garden Website Alison Dorfman Dave Allen Brooklyn Botanic Garden Publisher The Center for Urban Restoration Ecology A collaboration between Rutgers University and Brooklyn Botanic Garden A PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ON THE BIOLOGY OF URBAN AREAS ISSN 1541-7115 Birds in the Urban Environment Volume 3, Number 1 Page 1 Nesting Success and Life-History Attributes of Bird Communities Along an Urbanization Gradient Joseph A. Reale¹ and Robert B. Blair² ¹ City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, P.O. Box 791, Boulder, CO 80306 ² Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, 200 Hodson Hall, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 (address at time of research: Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056) Page 25 Urban Bird Diversity as an Indicator of Social Diversity and Economic Inequality in Vancouver, British Columbia Stephanie J. Melles Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3G5 Page 49 Microhabitat Selection and Singing Behavior Patterns of Male House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) in Urban Parks in a Heavily Urbanized Landscape in the Western U.S. Esteban Fernández-Juricic, Rachael Poston, Karin De Collibus, Timothy Morgan, Bret Bastain, Cyndi Martin, Kacy Jones, and Ronald Treminio Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840-3702. Page 70 Using Citizen Science in Urban Bird Studies Rachel E. McCaffrey School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 Page 87 Avian Response to Restoration of Urban Tidal Marshes in the Hackensack Meadowlands, New Jersey Alison Seigel,¹ Colleen Hatfield,² and Jean Marie Hartman³ ¹Rutgers University, Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution, 1 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 ²California State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 400 West First Street, Chico, CA 95929 (address at time of research: Rutgers University, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, 14 College Farm Road, - i - New Brunswick, NJ 08901) ³ Rutgers University, Department of Landscape Architecture, 93 Lipman Drive, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Page 117 History of the Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio) in New York City, 1867–2005 Robert DeCandido Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Acopian Center for Conservation Learning, 410 Summer Valley Road, Orwigsburg, PA 17961 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE... Page 134 Bringing the Urban Environment Into the Classroom: Learning From an Estuarine Mesocosm James C. Sullivan,¹ Theresa O'Neill,² and John R. Finnerty¹ ¹ Biology Department, Boston University, 5 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02135 ² Odyssey High School, South Boston, MA Page 158 Benthic Communities in Spartina alterniflora– and Phragmites australis– Dominated Salt Marshes in the Hackensack Meadowlands, New Jersey Catherine E. Yuhas,¹ Jean Marie Hartman,² and Judith S. Weis³ ¹ New Jersey Sea Grant College Extension Program, New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program Office, 290 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10007 (address at time of research: New Jersey Institute of Technology/Rutgers University, Federeated Graduate Program in Environmental Science, Newark, NJ 07102) ² Rutgers University, 93 Lipman Drive, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 ³ Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, 411 Boyden Hall, Newark, NJ 07102 Page 192 The Changing Flora of the New York Metropolitan Region Steven E. Clemants and Gerry Moore Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225 - ii - URBAN HABITATS, VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1 • ISSN 1541-7115 Nesting Success and Life-History Attributes of Bird http://www.urbanhabitats.org Communities Along an Urbanization Gradient Nesting Success and Life-History Attributes of Bird Communities Along an Urbanization Gradient* Joseph A. Reale¹ and Robert B. Blair² ¹City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, P.O. Box 791, Boulder, CO 80306; [email protected] ²Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, 200 Hodson Hall, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 (address at time of research: Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056) site availability and the ability to produce Abstract multiple broods—may drive the distribution of The increase in urbanization in North America avian species along an urbanization gradient, and has raised concerns regarding impacts on avian that nesting site is a critical resource that populations. In this study, we measured the regulates the distribution of birds in urban nesting success of American robins and northern environments. cardinals and analyzed the changes in bird Keywords: American robin; community; life community along an urbanization gradient in histories; nesting success; northern cardinal; southwestern Ohio. We found that nesting failure southwestern Ohio; urbanization was not significantly correlated with the gradient, but that it was correlated to nest height, which decreased significantly from the most natural to Introduction the most urban sites. We also found that nesting The growth of urban centers in the United States failure was not predicted by the density of adult has profound effects on natural ecosystems. birds. At the community level, the number of Increases in urban populations result in the species that use a multiple-brood breeding wholesale conversion of agricultural and forest strategy increased with urbanization. tracts into urban and suburban environments. Furthermore, birds identified as high-nesting The result of this change in land use is a mosaic species reached their highest proportion at the of land types ranging from entirely built -up most natural sites and decreased in number with urban centers to natural or seminatural areas urbanization. In contrast, low-nesting species (McDonnell, Pickett & Pouyat, 1993). Land use exhibited the reverse trend. These findings for human purposes alters both the structure and suggest that nesting success—determined by nest function of ecosystems and is the leading cause * Published online December 7, 2005 - 1 - URBAN HABITATS, VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1 • ISSN 1541-7115 Nesting Success and Life-History Attributes of Bird http://www.urbanhabitats.org Communities Along an Urbanization Gradient of biological diversity loss worldwide (Vitousek, The cumulative response of individual Mooney, Lubechenco & Melillo, 1997). species to urbanization also results in changes at As development reaches into rural areas, many the level of the bird assemb lage. Blair (2001) forests, if not fragmented or obliterated outright, examined the distribution and abundance of birds are enveloped by human settlement (Friesen, along an urban gradient in southwestern Ohio. Eagles & Mackay, 1995). This has imposed great This study included a spectrum of habitat types stress on avian populations, with many songbird created by urbanization, ranging from a pristine species experiencing declines in some portion of nature reserve to a highly developed urban center. their range (Wilcove & Terborgh, 1984; Askins, Individual species displayed patterns of Philbrick & Sugeno, 1990; Sauer, Hines & abundance along the gradient that reflect their Fallon, 2005). As breeding habitat becomes more level of tolerance for human impact. For fragmented, nest predation increases (Gates & example, European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) Gysel, 1978; King, Griffin & DeGraaf, 1996; were labeled “urban exploiters” based on their Bayne & Hobson, 1997), brood parasitism higher abundance at the urban end of the increases (Brittingham & Temple, 1983), gradient. On the opposite end, ovenbirds interspecific competition for resources is more (Seiurus aurocapilla) were labeled “urban pronounced (Cawthorne & Merchant, 1980; avoiders” based on their high abundance at the Ambuel & Temple, 1983), and pairing success natural end of the gradient and their complete decreases (Gibbs & Faaborg, 1990; Villard, absence from the urban end. Martin & Drummond, 1993). The urban bird community is most strongly The effects of urbanization on bird influenced by vegetation, with the volume of communities are well documented (Hoover, native vegetation being most closely correlated Brittingham & Goodrich, 1995; Friesen et al., with native bird density and species richness 1995; Blair, 1996; Morse & Robinson, 1998; (Mills, Dunning & Bates, 1991). The urban Porneluzi & Faaborg, 1999). These studies show environment favors species that can utilize small, that total and native species richness decline at discontinuous patches of vegetation (Beissinger high levels of development. Individual species, & Osborne, 1982), and densities of urban however, display differing responses to exploiters are strongly correlated with lawn area urbanization. Some birds reach peak densities in and the volume of exotic vegetation (Mills, urban or suburban settings, while others reach Dunning & Bates, 1989). The relationship peak densities at natural